Press Releases:

KKCC Launch Dedication

Alcatel and KKCC Install New Submarine Cable Network

Alcatel’s submarine networks

Kodiak Kenai Fiber Link Nears Completion


For Immediate Release
July 14, 2006

Fiber optic cable to be launched linking communities of Kodiak Island and the Kenai Peninsula Anchorage– Kodiak Kenai Cable Company (KKCC) will hold a celebration in Seward on Monday, July 17, at the Alaska SeaLife Center to launch the installation of a 600 mile marine telecommunications cable that will connect Seward, Kodiak, Homer and Kenai with Anchorage and the rest of Alaska and the nation by high-speed, broadband, all-weather, fiber optic technology.

Alcatel’s Maersk Defender cable ship will arrive in Seward the week of July 17th to begin laying submarine fiber optic cable for the Kodiak Kenai Fiber Link (KKFL) telecommunications system. The turnkey deployment will provide the first fiber optic connections from Anchorage and Seward to communities on the Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak Island.

The dedication launch in Seward will be from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at the Alaska SeaLife Center. It will be attended by Governor Frank Murkowski, members of his Cabinet, representatives of the Alaska Delegation, Members and representatives of the Alaska Legislature, representatives from the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation and the Kodiak Kenai Fiber Link (KKFL) Project Team and Alcatel.

The KKFL will provide secure, high-speed, broadband telecommunications capability to the nation’s largest Coast Guard base on Kodiak Island, the strategically important Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation’s (AADC) Launch Complex at Narrow Cape [critical to the development of the Ground-based Midcourse Missile Defense system], and the 60,000 people of Kodiak Island, the Kenai Peninsula and Seward. This will substantially aid national defense, marine rescue, telemedicine, distance learning, economic development and research. It will minimize exposure of the Turnagain Arm communication corridor to earthquakes, landslides or terrorist acts. It will also facilitate connecting schools, industry and commerce to the world with real-time broadband Internet and highly reliable, all weather phone service.

“This achievement will enable KKCC to provide the wherewithal for telecommunications companies to provide access to the people, municipalities, government offices and institutions, the military and Coast Guard, businesses, hospitals, and educational institutions of South Central Alaska to new, advanced high-speed broadband services” said Emil Christiansen, President of KKCC. “We are very excited that this project is nearing completion.”

The Maersk Defender, a 350-foot custom-built installation cable ship, will bury 600 miles of cable approximately three and a half feet deep along the ocean floor. The cable will run from Kodiak to Anchorage with landing facilities located at the Kodiak Launch Complex at Narrow Cape, Mill Bay on Kodiak Island, Homer, Kenai and Anchorage. An additional route from Kodiak through Seward and back to Anchorage will create a redundant SONET loop, ensuring enhanced reliability against natural or man-made disruptions.

In the days immediately following the dedication, the marine operation will begin with the cable being ‘floated’ ashore to the Seward beach from the cable ship. The cable is ‘floated’ ashore to prevent damage to both the seabed and the cable. Once the cable end is ashore and secure, the flotation bags will be removed and the cable will settle to the seabed. Upon arrival at the other cable end (previously installed and buoyed off) the position of the laying vessel will be adjusted until both cable ends are on board. A final splice cable joint will be made and lowered overboard and deployed on the seabed.

Northern Telecommunications Construction, Inc. has completed four of the six landing facilities – the Kodiak Launch Complex at Narrow Cape, Mill Bay on Kodiak Island and those in Homer and Seward. Anchorage and Kenai landing facilities will be completed soon. Marine work will be complete by October with installation and commissioning of the telecommunications system by the end of 2006.

Including design and construction, the overall cost of the project will be approximately $36 million through a combination of private and public funding. This technological link will be a seamless, repeaterless fiber optic marine cable, providing for current and future service requirements at the highest industry standards and at a competitive cost. Improved telecommunication delivery will enhance economic and educational opportunities and health services for all the communities connected by this system.

Alcatel will deploy its well-proven unrepeatered submarine cable and terminal technology to offer secure and reliable transmission capacity together with its 1677 SL SONET system to provide flexible connectivity at the network’s landing stations. Completion of the project will dramatically improve security and expand the potential benefits of this technology beyond Kodiak and the Kenai Peninsula by improving communications reliability for Anchorage, Fairbanks and all of interior Alaska.